


After Danver's: Shanghai Tunnels

by HylianHeroine2



Category: Naruto, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Alternate Universe - Ghost Hunters, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Ghost Hunters, Kylux - Freeform, Leeisanidiot, M/M, Paranormal Investigators, Psychic Abilities, Spooky, huxmustsuffer, kryslee, krystalhyrule
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-26
Updated: 2020-08-26
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:27:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26117983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HylianHeroine2/pseuds/HylianHeroine2
Summary: After everything at Danver's State, something told Hux not to go into the Shanghai Tunnels, and he assumed his gut feeling had to do with apparitions or other evil entities down there. He didn't expect it to be a weirdo with huge eyebrows and his non-stop talking.
Relationships: Armitage Hux/Kylo Ren, Rock Lee/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 1





	After Danver's: Shanghai Tunnels

**Author's Note:**

> Gift for StarKillerBae. I loved her shrimply fantastic Kylux story A Disapereance at Danver's and wrote this silly little thing to go along with it.   
> Link to her original work: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20952986

“Shame on me, to need release, uncontrollably.” 

Lee gently bobbed his head as his wife sang along to the radio. He grinned as he looked over at her, she looked so excited to go do this investigation and was almost vibrating in her seat about meeting the First Order. His eyes raked over the outfit she put on this morning, the belly button shirt and leggings with the shorts were a bit inappropriate but he liked how she expressed herself, from her half-shaved head to her mismatched high tops. 

“Oh, Lee, we're finally in Oregon!” Krystal spoke up. She grabbed his arm and squeezed gently. “I’m so happy you decided to do this with me! I can't wait to meet them, hear their stories.” Her copy of “A Disappearance at Danver’s” was sitting on the dashboard, dog eared in many places, and hundreds of little tabs sticking out where she had questions for the author. 

“After Edinburgh, I'd never turn down the opportunity baby-love.” He grabbed her hand and brought it to his lip to kiss the back of it. “That was one hell of a one year anniversary.” 

Hux tapped his foot on the ground as his impatience grew, he and Kylo had been waiting for ages for this other paranormal group to show up. Since the collaboration at Danver’s with Rey’s Rebel team, he and his husband had been more willing to team up with others.

This one team, called the Suicide Corp, had a huge breakthrough with video evidence at Edinburgh Castle and it had caught his and Kylo’s attention. 

Him because of the great evidence and camera usage, Kylo...well...he suspected his husband liked the sound of the edgy team name. He had heard him muttering about how they should have thought of that years ago instead of the First Order. 

However, they were late to the meeting spot outside the Teardrop Lounge. They were to further discuss teaming up to do the Shanghai Tunnels nearby, so far, it had only been through email and the man, named Lee Rock, had been nice enough and sounded professional, which is something he almost demanded. 

He said he and his wife were headed out to Oregon and Kylo wanted to jump at the chance to team up and meet them in person. Since the tunnels were quite large and filled with many angry and disparaging spirits, Lee was more than happy to accommodate them and said his wife was fine with it too.

Finally, after what seems like hours, though his watch, the damn thing, told him it had only been thirty minutes since they arrived themselves, a black Hyundai rolled up and parked. From the passenger seat came a young blonde woman, head half-shaved looking like she just stepped out of the red light district with a belly button shirt and tights under some really short shorts. 

She walked over and shook their hands. “Good evening, sorry for the delay, my husband is pretty terrible with directions. My name is Krystal.”

“Hux.” He replied as he shook her hand, noting the deep red nail polish. Not investigator hands. He gestured to Kylo. “My husband.”

“Kylo Ren. You two had some great evidence in Edinburgh, how did you know the spirit was there?”

Before Krystal had the chance to answer a loud crashing from behind her had them all look up and watch as the man getting out the car stumbled and fell, dropping about everything in his hands onto the pavement. Krystal only walked over and helped him off the ground, brushing off his coat. Hux curled his lip, surely this couldn't be Lee, the man sounded so professional on camera, now he can't even get out of a car without tripping on his own two feet? 

They walked back over. The man was wearing a hideous bright orange and green jacket and skinny jeans. “Sorry about that!” He eagerly grabbed Hux’s hand and shook his arm so hard that he felt his entire body move. “I’m Lee! You’re Armitage, yes? And Kylo Ren?”

“Just Hux is fine.” He said, wrenching his hand out of the man’s grip. “And yes, that's us.” Kylo had moved a bit farther back, to avoid the same fate as his husband. Krystal gently placed her hand on Lee’s shoulder. 

“How about we all move into the lounge? Portland is a little chilly this time of year.” She said, trying to smooth things over. Hux couldn't agree more, the more distance between him and Lee, the better. They all went inside and sat down at one of the more secluded tables in the back so they could have some privacy. A young waitress came and took their orders before waltzing off to grab a basket of pretzels. 

“So, I have to ask.” Kylo started. “Why the Suicide Corp?” Both Krystal and Lee became a little quieter and looked away. Hux smirked.

“Yes, why such a name?” He asked, lacing his fingers together and bringing them to his lip. “You do know that sometimes you can meet spirits that have killed themselves, real human spirits.” 

“I know,” Lee replied quietly. He sighed deeply before speaking. “It all goes back to how Krystal and I met, it's a silly name that we should change, but it also meant something to us.”

“Like what?” Hux hoped it wasn't something childish like.  _ “Oh, we were both suicidal until we fell in love.” _

“My best friend committed suicide.” Hux wasn't expecting that. “He had been spiraling down and I, unfortunately, had been unable to help him due to being away at college, I thought it would be fine until I came back.” He stopped and swallowed thickly. 

“Lee had come home and found him,” Krystal said, grabbing her husband's hand. “It was messy. He continued to live at that apartment, never really having one roommate stay for too long, they all said they felt uncomfortable. I answered one of his ads for a roommate, when I walked in I had sensed the spirit of his best friend, unhappy with various things, new roommates, re-decorating, and so on.” 

“Krystal discovered she had a knack for sensing spirits and we decided to see if we could help other spirits move on and capture evidence.” Lee rubbed the back of his head with a nervous chuckle. “We decided to take it on the road, and called ourselves the Suicide Corps after my best friend. It wasn’t until all the excitement kind of wore off that we realized we were pretty dumb with the name.”

“Quite.” Kylo said as he took a sip of his drink.”But since we are doing this together, we can just use our name of the First Order, we have more people after all.” 

“Oh sure.” Lee smiled. “Krystal and I are still pretty inexperienced with this after all.” 

Hours passed and they talked about what their objectives were, what supplies were needed, and what they all had on hand. Krystal had brought along a map she found of some more mapped out areas of the tunnels. Since they were once used to transport slaves and human trafficking, it was pretty easy to obtain a good map, unlike Danver’s had been. Though, they all agreed to explore further into some of the uncharted areas, just for fresher looks into spirits that may still be lingering there. 

Hux was thankful for Krystal’s presence once she revealed that the Teardrop actually had a closed-off entrance that they could use. She was good friends with the owner and he had been begging her to come and do the tunnels anyways. They all left to get checked into their hotels for the night, agreeing to meet up in the morning to go over final plans and equipment. 

“So?” Kylo’s voice made him look up from the table. Hux had been going over all the equipment, making sure it was all in working order. 

“So what?” He replied over his shoulder. The bed creaked, indicating Kylo sat. 

“What do you think of them?” He rolled his eyes. 

“She, I am slightly fine with, though she does dress a little proactively and clearly doesn't get her own hands dirty when it comes to investigations. He is annoying, he sounded so professional over e-mail and now, he just goes and grabs people like we’re friends. I hope they don't do anything else weird tomorrow morning.” 

Hux nearly choked on the breakfast he had been eating when Lee entered the lobby. Gone was his asinine looking green and orange jacket, now in a green sleeveless turtleneck, showing off some nasty looking scars on his arms and hands, his wedding ring around his neck like Kylo kept his pendant. 

No, no, all of that was fine, what Hux couldn't believe is the man was wearing a damn fanny pack like some tourist. Lee saw him, smiled, and briskly walked over.

“Good morning Hux!” Oh, he was a morning person. How unfortunate. 

“Good morning.” He replied curtly. “Krystal still asleep?” Lee shook his head and sat down across from him. 

“Nah, she’s finishing up a shower. She likes to take a while, especially after sex.”

Ah, Hux could understand that, Kylo took forever in the shower and wait, what? “I’m sorry?”

Lee waved a dismissive hand, obviously realizing what he just said. “I’m sorry, ignore me, Krystal says I speak without thinking half the time.” A red tinge crossed his face as he laughed. 

Hux could only shake his head with an eye roll. He did not need that mental image in his head, ugh, the fanny pack still on during, he shivered in disgust. Voices were coming from the hall, Kylo and Krystal had seemed to run into one another and were conversing lightly, if Krystal was a medium, then it made sense that Kylo was at least somewhat comfortable around her. She was dressed much more acceptable today. The God awful jacket Lee was wearing now sat on her shoulders but was unzipped to show a simple white t-shirt, though the red of her bra could be seen through it clearly. 

“Good morning, sorry about taking so long.” Krystal sat next to Lee, Kylo stealing an orange from the breakfast bar before sitting himself. “Lee, dear, would you go get us some breakfast?” Lee nodded, kissed her on the cheek and stood up.

“Got him trained huh?”

She smiled. “To an extent. Lee...is, well, pretty excitable if you can't tell. Does silly and sometimes socially awkward stuff, but he tries.” She chuckled. “You should have seen his social faux pas when we did Waverly Hills. He flopped onto the pillow of the bed and cried at how stupid he was.” 

Hux could only imagine what he could have done. Kylo nodded along. He peeled his orange, setting each skin piece down in a neat pile. “You never answered my question for yesterday.” 

“Oh, yes. Sorry.” Krystal replied. “My entire family could be seen as mediums, it is something that all of us share.” She touched her arm where the large tattoo sat on her bicep. “Believe it if you want, but we have an ancestor that was, well, what one would call a witch nowadays, but in her day, she was revered as a Goddess. She could commune with the dead and help people move on from the loss of their loved ones. My family has always had this ability too, when I get into haunted areas, I can hear them, quite clearly, calling for help, cries of anguish or rants of anger.” She looked at Hux and Kylo. “I can also hear the thoughts, sometimes, of living, though you have to be in emotional turmoil or deep thought.” 

Kylo opened his mouth when Lee came rushing back in, tripping on some of the table legs around them. Krystal threw out an arm and caught one of the paper plates with ease. Lee went crashing to the floor, but, impressively, he held the other plate aloft, not a single ounce of food spilled. 

“I always like taking a tour around the city for insight on the location,” Krystal said as they walked through the downtown district. Many restaurants had signs in their windows advertising that they had an entrance to the tunnels, though Krystal revealed that a lot of places only said that to bring in tourists. Hux watched in horror as Lee unzipped his fanny pack and pulled out a nice camera. 

“You keep your only camera in there?” The disdain in his voice could clearly be heard, but Lee didn't seem to notice. Kylo only nudged him a little to be nice. 

“What kind of equipment do you have then?” Lee asked. “I only have a camera and a voice recorder.”

Hux started to count off on his fingers. “EMF Readers, voice recorders, digital thermometers, digital and traditional film cameras, video cameras, broad-spectrum energy emitters.” 

“What about a radio sweeper?” 

“No!” Kylo started, everyone looked at him. “No. He stated again firmly. We are not doing that, that gives me a headache. “

“Ah, sorry.” Hux tried not to look too smug. Continuing to walk around, Krystal had disappeared into a local library and poured over the history of the Tunnels, Hux and Kylo had found a secluded spot to do their own research. 

“How many of these stories do you think are actually true?” Hux mused as he flicked to another page. “A lot of them are the exact same story with only little touches of difference here and there.” 

“Similar experiences maybe?” Kylo hummed. “Then again, a lot of the stories come from the tours, who knows, maybe it's all a gimmick from the tour.”

Hux peered over the top of his book in Kylo’s direction, the hulking mountain of his husband blocked most of his view from the rest of the library but he could barely hear Lee animatedly whispering to Krystal. Going into those tunnels was going to drive him nuts. When they got back to the Hotel, their time slot for the meeting room that he requested was near, Krystal bought some Chinese take out and had it delivered as they discussed tomorrow night. 

“Generally I take a few minutes to take in the area while in base camp.” She started as she cracked open her fortune cookie and handed Lee the fortune who stuffed it into his bag. From the off-handed conversation, Hux learned she liked to scrapbook their travels. “I can get a feel for some spirits when I touch areas heavy with energy.”

Kylo launched into his usual routine on meditating, taking a moment to connect with the spirits and trying to feel their energy. Hux looked up to see his book gently pushed into his area, Lee sheepishly grinned at him. 

Krystal really likes your work, she has a copy of the “Danver’s Project” at home. I was hoping you could answer some of the questions she had written on the tabs, like a present for her. Hux raised an eyebrow but pushed his operations journal out of the way and opened the book. It was obviously well-read, and Krystal’s tiny annotations were written on little tabs everywhere. He picked up a pen and a sticky note pad before answering some of her questions and replying to her comments. 

“Why did you get into Ghost hunting?”

He looked up, a bit startled. “Well, the answer was my days at my Catholic school.” He sighed and sat back in the chair. “I was about 10 or so, and a lot of the younger boys, myself included, were haunted by the ghost of a Nun, whether she was the head Nun or just one of the followers, I don't know. Eventually, I started staying up late, way late into the night to catch a glimpse of her.” He shook his head. “I had become enthralled with it I suppose.” 

“I suppose I can understand that.” Lee looked down. “When Neji died, I always felt like he was still with me.” He laughed a little. “I can't believe he was, and still bitching about my design tastes and new roommates.” 

“Sounds more like a bad sitcom if I’m honest.” He replied dryly. “But, I suppose everyone has different experiences in this kind of stuff.” 

When he could settle down Lee could actually be of great help, he was very focused and helped keep everything organized for Hux as Kylo and Krystal just seemed to swap stories. When they wrapped up for the night, they all agreed to meet at the Teardrop Inn to go in together, get their equipment in quickly, and be sealed in for the night. 

“Have a goodnight Krystal.” The owner said as the last of their equipment was in and everyone was ready to go. Hux had overheard Lee insisting that Krystal wear his jacket while they were down there, it was freezing and with the Eastern sea breeze, it would be damp too. 

He agreed, both he and Kylo had bundled up, he patted his pocket and felt his phone still where it was. Since Danver’s, they both agreed to have a tracking app on their phones so both of them could find the other in any situation. It was a small comfort that he held dear. 

“Goodnight Alan. See you at six.” The door closed and the lock could be heard sliding into place. Hux looked around for the best place to set up, bits of glass could be seen littering the floor when he joined his phone’s flashlight around the ground. Lee grunted as he pulled the cord on the generator and got the two floodlights going. He and Lee set up the table as Kylo walked only a short distance off and sat down on one of the rocks nearby to avoid the glass-covered floor. 

As he and Lee set up the camera’s and Krystal’s laptop to start everything up, Hux shot occasional glances at Kylo. His face was a bit sweaty and he looked troubled, he swallowed thickly, just like Danver’s. 

“I’ll be back.” He said as he set down one of the cameras and walked over. “Kylo?”

“It's hard.” Kylo started. “There’s a lot here.” 

Krystal cried in pain off to the left, something clattered onto the table as Lee dropped it and ran over. 

“Baby-love? What's wrong?” Krystal was nearby the large pile of shoes and some chains hanging on the walls, she cradled her hand against her chest as if she had just been burned. 

“They're angry and distrustful. Many still roam these halls lost and in pain.” She turned into Lee’s chest. “Talk to me, please.”

Lee nodded and put his head on her shoulder. “I’ve got you, I’m not going anywhere.” He took her hand and kissed it. “Hey, remember that time we went to South Padre? The little hermit crabs?”

Hux stood bewildered. Why was he going on about hermit crabs now? The thought was lost as Kylo took his hand and interlaced their fingers. “Don't worry, I'm not leaving you.” He whispered. 

After getting all the equipment set up, Hux turned on the voice recorder and looked about, making sure everyone was silent and ready to go. Pressing the button on the side, the red light came on to indicate it was one and recording. 

“2100, Wednesday, September 21st, 2011. Shanghai Tunnels, Portland, Oregon. The First Order and the Suicide Corp team members are fully charged up on cameras, voice recorders, and EMF detectors. Cameras 1 1 and 2 are facing the North and Southbound tunnels fifty yards away from base camp. Cameras 3 and 4 are-”

“Does anyone want gum?”

Hux could almost hear his vertebrate snap as he jerked his head around to glower at Lee. Kylo took a piece from the wrapper that Lee offered, the smirk on his lips made his nostrils flare in further annoyance.

“Please, can you not?” He hissed.

“Oh, sorry.” Was his only reply. Hux would have taken it and been fine if he hadn't interrupted the next three attempts. Finally, Krystal seemed to sense that he would have killed her husband if she didn't shut him up, she clapped a hand over Lee’s mouth which allowed Hux to finally finish his recording.

“I swear to fucking God.” He mumbled to himself as they walked along. Lee didn't seem to notice how often he was talking, more than once when Hux re-listened to a recording Lee’s loud voice could be heard in the background, going on about something he saw or possibly heard. Hey came to a y-intersection, the light from Lee’s camera glinting off something down the right path. 

When the light finally came across it and Hux crouched down, he was disappointed to see it was only a necklace, the pearls and diamonds fake, obviously a child’s necklace, dropped during a tour. Hux tossed it back in the dirt.

“Well, that's a bummer,” Lee said. “Oh, a “can’t get out” carving, wonder if it's real.” Hux rolled his eyes and turned to consult Kylo on where they should go next. He nor Krystal were there.

“Kylo?” He asked in the dark, he did like to wear all dark clothing, maybe he was just blending in? He turned on his flashlight; the only other person in the hall was Lee. “Lee? Where is Kylo and Krystal?” Fear creeping into his voice,

Lee turned and looked around. “Hmm, I don't know, they might have gone down a different path. Sometimes Krystal likes to go off on her own. I wouldn't worry about it, she has her own recorder in case she communicates with a spirit.” 

Hux had already pulled out his phone and quickly tapped the tracking app. “That's not what I meant!” The tiny bars in the corner of his phone screen were barely there, clinging to life. The app circled and circled before declaring that there was no service and couldn't locate Kylo’s phone. 

“Fuck!” He held up his phone and tried again. Still no signal. Hux’s hands shook as he violently stabbed at his phone, trying desperately to get a signal. Where was he? He couldn't lose him again!

“Wow, this is really deep.”

Hux felt his fingers curl into a fist. How was this man getting under his skin so bad? Just the mere tone of his voice was driving him mad!

“Hux, did you see these carvings?”

“Will you shut up!?” He snapped finally as he whipped around, his coattails licking at the dusty floor. “I’m trying to find a signal, and you going on about some words scratched into the walls is making me lose my mind!”

Lee looked so hurt, but he didn’t care. At least he was finally silent. He held his phone up, his phone still not getting any signal. 

“Hux?”

“What?” He spat. Lee only grabbed his arm, he started to say something not so nice when Lee pointed his hand down a darkened tunnel. Once everything was quiet, they could hear someone screaming. His ears strained, the faint screaming sounded almost like an anguished song, with both a high pitched female and a lower bass male. 

“Kylo!” He started as he yanked out of Lee’s grip and ran down the hall, Lee not too far behind. The Shanghai tunnels were not as twisted as Danver’s, and certainly, Snoke isn't lingering in these halls to confuse, but with the dirt flooring kicking up dust and the crunch of glass under boot, it was hard to hear where the sound of screaming was coming from exactly. 

Lee skidded to a stop, grabbing Hux as he did so. He started down another hall, almost going the opposite way to the sound.

“This way!” He shouted. 

He really didn't want to follow him, but desperation was seeping into his mind. He followed after, barely able to follow Lee’s camera’s light. When he caught up, Lee had thrown down the camera and was pressed against some loose rocks, the screaming was much louder now.

“Krystal!” He shouted as he reared back his fist.

“What the hell are you doing?” Hux questioned him as he watched Lee punch the wall. “There’s no fucking way you’ll get through that.” 

Lee turned. “Don't put anything between me and my wife.” He punched it again, the loose stones starting to break and crumble away due to age. Hux joined in, clawing at the stones that were breaking away, they worked together ripping away the wall, finally, a section crumbled away to reveal the smaller room inside. 

Hux got a good look inside as Lee continued working the wall. 

Firstly, he had no earthly clue on how both of them got in there, it seemed like it was a completely blocked room and neither were screaming. Both Kylo and Krystal were sitting at opposite ends of the room, Krystal was curled up in a ball, covering her ears, tears clearly streaming down her face. A bone was sticking through the skin of her leg, snapped clean in half. 

Kylo, was nearly one with the wall, frozen in fear and desperation, Hux could see his fingers twitch as he wanted to run, but had nowhere to go, patterns in the floor showed evidence that he paced. His hulking form looked small, his whole body in convulsions as he tried to take in quick, deep breaths. 

“Krystal!” Lee’s voice startled all of them. The hole in the wall wasn't large enough for anyone to walk through but Lee jumped up and crawled in, running over and sliding towards his wife. “Darling, what's going on, what happened? How did you get hurt, did he hurt you?”

Hux bristled as he too crawled through the hole, going to Kylo. He knew his husband was aggressive, but to outwardly accuse him of hurting his precious wife. He offered a hand to Kylo, who shakily took it, the look of fear, and the spark of anger in his eyes showed he was ready to fight his way out of whoever would dare try to restrain him. 

Thankfully, he didn't. He could sense it was him and clung to his arm, knowing his husband had a way out. 

“I’m okay.” Hux heard Krystal and looked over. “I’m okay.” She said again. “He didn't hurt me.” 

“Why are you over here?”

“He has severe PTSD.” Krystal’s voice dropped, not wanting to sound hateful or like she was talking about them behind their backs. “I swear to Hylia Lee, I thought you read his books?” She hissed in pain as she held her leg. Lee sat down on the floor next to her.

“I did….the first one,” Lee mumbled back. “What happened to your leg?” Hux watched as she pointed to the ceiling, the dome-shaped ceiling had a small trap door from an upper level, most likely an abandoned bar or tavern on the port. 

“We fell through, well, I did first, he came crashing after me. I landed on my leg weird and he fell on top of me. I grabbed his hand and could immediately feel his panic rise.” 

“Baby love, that trap door looks sealed shut,” Lee replied. “How did you fall through?”

“It opened underneath me, Kylo was only a few steps behind me. You know how the spirits can be.” She grabbed his sleeve and buried her face into his chest. “Please Lee, I need rest, don’t leave me.”

“Never.” He replied. At least there was one thing that they both shared, as much as he hated being compared to the thick brown man, they did care for their spouses. Hux knelt to the floor, taking Kylo’s arm and cradling it to his chest. His breathing had slowed down and the clammy look on his face was returning to normal. It wouldn't hurt for a few more moments of silence. 

Lee had been distraught over the loss of the camera and the footage they did find, but Krystal hadn’t seemed to care, and neither did Hux. 

He still hated himself for even agreeing to the tunnels, he and Kylo were not equipped to handle them. After Krystal was discharged from the hospital with her broken leg, they all said their goodbyes.

“While this was a less than ideal situation,” Krystal said. “I was glad to work with you for the small amount of time we did.” All three men looked at her with a scowl.

“Less than ideal is not how I would put complete disaster baby love.” Lee chided. He pet her face. “It’s okay to say that everything was a complete fuck up.” 

Hux shook his head. “I agree, if I could, I would personally condemn those tunnels.” He turned on his heel to go back to the car. “Come on, you brooding mountain, let's go home. If Phasma hasn't overfed Millicent, we have a spoiled kitty to go home too.” 

Krystal and Lee Afterward

“What do you mean, you heard screaming?” Krystal asked as she looked up from her book. “I yelped in pain when I fell through and again when he landed on me, but I didn't scream. You know my pain tolerance is higher than that.” 

“I heard it, and so did Hux,” Lee replied. “Two screams, a female and a male.” 

“Maybe someone was looking out for you and lead you to us.” She leaned over and pinched his cheek, he smiled as he drove on. 

“Now that we're out of Portland, can I confess something?”

“Of course,” Krystal said.

“Hux is rude.” Lee normally never spoke ill of anyone. “He said I talk too much, only because he’s used to that...that....silent statue of a man.” Krystal only lowered her sunglasses and re-opened her book with a chuckle.

“Lee, my love, you do talk a lot.” She rubbed his hand on the gear shift. “But, I like it, so be happy with that.” 

“Why?” He asked. “If it annoys other people.” He scowled at the road. “How does it not annoy you?”

“You drown out all the other voices,” Krystal said. “Having only one voice in my head keeps me from going crazy.” 

“Still.” He mumbled. “Krystal, I can't even begin to apologize enough for losing you down there.” He gripped the steering wheel. “If I had been there, if I hadn't been rambling on I would have seen you walk off.”

Krystal smacked his arm lightly. “Don't beat yourself up. Kylo and I got along just fine, and honestly, I should have known better.” She sighed. “Kylo...well, even Hux went through a lot, and I thought it would be a good idea. I have no idea what I was thinking.” She looked out the window. 

“Well, the worst is behind us,” Lee said. “Let’s get to the hotel and prop your foot up.” Krystal perked at seeing a food place. 

“Oh, let's stop here for some food, I’m starving.” Lee pulled into the parking lot. Billy’s bar and grill did sound good. 

Kylo and Hux Afterwards

“You’re upset….” Kylo said, looking over at Hux as his husband combed out his hair in the hotel room mirror, still wet from the shower and his bright ginger locks turned a dark russet shade. His shoulders were tense and his movements stiff though. 

“You’re cold reading.” Hux quipped back, his tone short but whatever heat it held wasn't for Kylo. By definition, Kylo couldn't cold read Hux, but the old argument came easily to his lips, and Hux only set aside the brush when he felt his husband's gaze on him. 

“You’re easy to read, a hotline psychic could read how tense your shoulders are.” Kylo’s answer came back, and then he was falling back down against the bed, his eyes falling closed though Hux didn’t doubt Kylo was still paying attention to him. 

“Hauling equipment through every haunted house on the west coast makes my shoulders tense. Not everyone can wander into an investigation with only a fanny-pack on.”  
Kylo let out a sound of agreement, but didn’t say more, not until he felt the mattress dip beside him. “It wasn’t your fault.” 

Hux sighed and went to lay down on the bed beside Kylo as his husband spoke, marriage to an empath meant uncomfortable conversations were seldom able to be brushed under the rug. “It was. I should have insisted on running the setup. I should have never put us down there. Tunnels… what was I thinking.” 

“You can’t protect me from ghost hunting. I didn’t know tunnels would do that to me.” Kylo’s arms were snaking around Hux’s waist, and though Kylo could feel Hux still tense and stiff, it was worth it when Hux allowed a kiss to be pressed to his cheek. 

“Kylo, people were hurt.  _ You _ were hurt.” Hux’s voice was rough, barely held scorn and self deprecation lacing his words. 

“You came and got me.” 

At that Hux finally accepted the affection, returning Kylo’s chaste kiss with a deeper press of lips, and Kylo felt tension start to ease out of Hux at last. 


End file.
